Pewter Teapot c. 1937

Beulah Bradleigh made this watercolor painting of a pewter teapot; when, we don't know. Just look at all the tonal variation and the surface texture! There is real delight in the way the silver surface is evoked with watercolor washes. I imagine Bradleigh delighting in the flowers as she drew them. I wonder if she liked pewter. It’s a humble material, like the paper she worked on. There is an intimacy here, in her mark-making. She doesn’t show off or try to do too much. It looks as if the image came together organically. It reminds me a little of Morandi, and the way he looked and looked at humble objects until they glowed. She knew how to build something from almost nothing. We can all learn from that.